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MAGAZINE 30 HOW-TO JANUARY 2019|EMUSICIAN.COM Scott atscottkinseymusic.com andonFacebook @KinestheticMusic The fullsoloon“SendInClones”isavailable online.Keep upwith A pla Scott Kinsey THE ART OFSYNTHSOLOING BY JERRY KOVARSKY y er wholivesinthemoment virtual instruments. “voice” onsynthesizer, and is afan of Nord synths (Nord Lead 2), as well as many share thatexploratory nature, andIrecommend themhighly. Scotthasaunique ensemble playing was often telepathic. His solo and more recent group projects all out of thatmaterial,notunlike MilesDavis’ work of thevery late’60sand’70s. Their where thebandwould gointothestudioandimprovise/jam and thenbuildsongs unique musicalspace.Iwas always impressed by hislaterwork withTribal Tech, (along with another favorite, Ahmad Jamal) taking those elements into his own worked togetherfor many years inthestudio),andhehasabsorbedthatinfluence, music, andmore with ease. His love for the music of JoeZawinul is obvious (they musical voice wholoves group improvisation, andhemeldsfunk,fusion,jazz, world seen in modules, Scottplays afunkyandangularsolo, as Life Experience (2016). OndualOberheim SEM called “Rave”, from Scott’s secondsolorelease Near My first example isaburningmodernfusioncut A RAVE UP! phrase thatstarts atbar 4. Bar 5’s useoftheC basic pentatonicscales, andIespeciallylove the plays. Hisnotechoices are more interesting than SEM modulestojumpranges inreal-time as he jam, andhemakes use of theoctave switches onthe I have beenafan of ScottKinsey for decadesnow: heisanartistwithaunique Ex. 1 . The solo section is basically a B minor . ThesolosectionisbasicallyaBminor THE BASICCONCEPT clichéd “licks”inthatworkout! 13-14 helptobringthesoloaclose. Certainlyno the scale. Somemore wideinterval work inbars emphasizing anF-sharp minorseventh outlinefrom with more CLydian Dominant work, but minor, andthingsgetmore slipperythrough bar12, seems tomorphintoplaying Cmajorover theB groove, usingtheLydian Dominantmode. Bar 11 superimposes aCdominantseventh colorover the (C? Gmajor?),andthenresolves back.Inbar9he natural andGnotesseemstoimplyanotherchord 22/10/2018 14:26 q = 138 CHANNELING HIS INNER ZAWINUL B‹ œ ?# œ œ œ j œ ?œ œ ? As I mentioned earlier, Scott and Joe Zawinul # Ó≈œ & œ ≈ œ ≈‰ œ œ œ & œ r ‰≈œ were close friends, and Joe respected Scott so 123:27 œ œ œ œ 3 œ œ R œ œ œ much that he asked him to be the one to carry on B‹ œ œ ?# œ œ œ ? his musical legacy, which he does with the # œ &œ œ ≈ j ‰Œ Œ‰ œœ ≈ œ Zawinul Legacy Band. In every show he plays 45œœœ œ œœ œœœ 6 œ œ œ œ œnœ œ œ œ œ you’ll hear nods to Joe’s musical outlook and B‹ œ j œ œ keyboard timbres/textures. But Scott has long ?## ‰Œ ÓÓ& Œ œœ œ#œ œ œnœ Œ≈œ œœ œ œœ‰ ago absorbed and made these influences his 78œ œ91œ œ œ 0 œœ œ œnœ own. He goes others places, and for me, even B‹ #œnœ œ # œ deeper than Joe did, which I think is as Joe # ≈ œ œ œ œ nœ œ ≈ bœ œ bœ nœ œ#œ œ would have wanted. 11 & œ œ nœ œ œ 12 œ nœ œ#œ œnœ œ œ#œ Ex. 2 comes from the Human Element band B‹ B(“2) G(“2)/A G(“4) #œnœ project, from their 2011 self-titled release. # nœ ? #œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ™ œ œ œ™ & # #œ œnœ œ™ Œ œ & œ ™ J ‰ ™ J ≈ ™ J≈Œ “Essaouira” draws on the Gnawa style of music 13 œ #œ 14 15 from North Africa, and is the type of piece that Ex. 1. Scott Kinsey’s funky solo on “Rave” from his 2016 solo record Near Life Experience the Zawinul Syndicate might have done. Scott solos on an open C major groove, using a major qs i=qapa asqq = 106 pentatonic mode, with a deep swing feel. This type of sing-song melodicism is vintage Zawinul, C œ œ 4 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ‰Œ Œ‰bœ™ Œ≈œ œbœnœ œ œ œ œ but Scott quickly takes some interesting turns. 12&4 œ œ œ œ œ j 3 œ The little glitch figure at the end of bar 2 adds 2:38 œ œ œ œ œ some interest, and then his line in bar 5 climbs ŒŒ‰ j ≈ bœ≈ œ œ ≈ r bœ œœ œ œœœœœ œ ‰ just a little further chromatically than a usual 45& œ œœ œœ#œ œœ #œ œœ œ nœ 6 œ bluesy lick. The strong F notes in bar 10 are nœ œ œ œ R J 3 J ≈ r another nod to Joe, but then in bar 14 Scott starts œ superimposing a D major tonality over the groove, bœ Œ‰nœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ 78& œ œ J and then from bar 15 to the end of the example he œ œ œ œbœnœbœ œnœbœ œ œ œ œ 9 œ ™ seems to have shifting to E minor, including the œ œ œ œ œœ™œ œ™ œ notes of the dominant seventh of that key (B7), œ ≈ œ œ œ œ œ Œ œ œ œ œ œ ‰Œ using both F-sharp and D-sharp. Listen to the 10 & 11 œ œ œ œ œ 12 J œ œ œ œ whole cut, the tune changes up nicely just after my example. œ œ œ ‰‰ j ‰ œ œ œ œ œ œ j‰ ‰ œ œ œ œ œ œ 13& œ J œ œ œ œ14 #œ œ œ œ 15 œ œ#œ œ œ BLOWING HARD THROUGH CHANGES j Don’t assume that all of Scott’s music is based on œ j ‰≈œ ≈ œ œ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ ≈ œ one-chord jams. He pointed me to a solo he took on 16& œ œ œ œ œ œ 17 R R 18 œ™œ œ œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ#œ œ œ™ a Seamus Blake release from 2015 (Superconductor) Ex. 2. Scott can channel the vibe and attitude of Joe Zawinul’s later-era world music, while on a track called “Send In The Clones”. I was so making it his own. This excerpt is from “Essaouira”, from his 2011 Human Element release floored by it that I had to transcribe the whole solo q = 159 (played using Arturia’s Matrix 12V plug-in), which E¨/G BŒ„Š7(#11) D‹(b6) we’ve posted online at keyboardmag.com. It’s a 4 œ bœ nœ #œ #œ nœ bœ œ burning jazz tune with a long, complicated, and ?4 ˙Œbœ œ #œ #œ #œ œ œ œ Œ≈ nœ nœ 24 2:41 25 nœ #œ ™ #œ™ 26bœ nœ œ non-clichéd set of changes to blow on. G¨Œ„Š7(#11) F/AA¨Œ„Š7(#11) Ex. 3 shows only part of his second chorus, ?bœ œ œ bœ nœ œ œ œ bœ œ nœ œ as he masterfully navigates the changes with bœ bœ œ nœ bœ nœ nœ œŒ œ œ bœ™ flowing, melodic lines. The descending run in 27 28 œ bœ nœ œ 29 œ œ œ bœ nœ œ™ D¨Œ„Š7(#11) the first bar resolves onto a colorful B-flat for the D7(“4) #œ second chord. He treats that minor-flat sixth nœ œnœ œ œ œ œbœ œ œbœ œ bœ ? #œ œ œ bœ nœ chord like a B-flat major seventh, and then plays Œ œ œ bœ bœ œ œ bœ œ œ 30 31 a wonderful phrase over the G-flat chord G/B E¨Œ„Š7(#11) nœ œbœ resolving into the major seventh of the F major bœ nœ nœ œ nœ bœ œ œ ? Œ nœ #œ nœ œ #œ nœ œ œ œ œ ≈ chord. Throughout the solo he makes excellent 32 nœ œ #œ 33 use of color tones, and rarely touches on the root, F©‹(b6)B¨Œ„Š7(#11) A/C© CŒ„Š7(#11) #œ or even basic triad tones. At bar 30 he arpeggiates #œœœ œ œ a B minor seventh chord and then a G major œ #œ nœ r #œ œ™ ? Ó‰ ™ Œ‰™ œ ‰ R œ œ #œ œ œ Ó seventh, over a Dsus chord — great colors. I’ll leave 34 35 36#œ œ 37 œ œ œ R the micro-analysis here, it’s a great solo that we all Ex. 3. Scott masterfully navigates complex chord changes in his solo on “Send In The Clones”, from Seamus Blake’s 2015 release Superconductor can learn from. n

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EMU409.keyboard_solo.indd 31 22/10/2018 14:26